Mirrors, 33 New York Avenue N.E. Washington, DC 20002
I had considered going to see WHAT? Band, but was not anxious to go back to the Classics so soon after the shooting there. When the night was done, I was glad I decided to go here instead (and that's not a knock on the WHAT? Band).
I was the first customer there. The cover taker asked me why I hadn't been to Bud's in a while.
I enjoyed Tee Bone's conga playing during set up.
Preston Blue, Delano, Kelasia, and 2nd2None were there.
E put up an OP Tribe banner behind the stage.
OP Tribe
The line up was: E, 4 other vocalists, 2 keyboard players, guitar player, bass player, Sax player, trumpet player, percussionist, drummer.
They all had matching Avail shirts. They had a group huddle/prayer - E said they were praying for the victims of the driver at Unifest. E said that she just missed him and his 2 keyboard players. Their performance was filmed.
They started around Midnight and performed for about 40 minutes.
They cranked. I didn't recognize hardly any of their set list, they performed T-Pain Featuring Yung Joc's Buy U a Drank (Shawty Snappin'), "I put my hands up on her hips". E introduced the band, with accompanying drum hits. He introduced himself as "Mr. Uh oh uh uh oh". They did an instrumental outtro
Chappy and India were there.
UCB
The line up was: Tre (vocalist), Mikey (vocalist), Myra (vocalist), 2 or 3 other vocalists, guitar player, bass player, 2 keyboard players, drummer, percussionist.
They replaced OP Tribe's banner with one of their own, advertising their upcoming EP. This was my first time seeing them since last year's Super Bowl party. I was really impressed - they not only cranked, but their vocals were awesome. They performed, "We'll always be together, got each other", "Sex appeal, so fly, so addicted", Tre-led Sexy Lady, "Ain't what you got to do", "Move to the left, move to the right, pop lock it, drop it".
Their set ended a little before 2 AM.
L!ssen iHD
Their line up was: Michael Thompson (vocalist), lead talker, Stan Cooper (guitar), bass player, Sax player, trumpet player, 2 keyboard players, drummer, percussionist.
I was really surprised, they really cranked! Although I was disappointed Yannie wasn't there. They performed: Prince's Purple Rain, T-Pain Featuring Yung Joc's Buy U A Drank (Shawty Snappin'), "Hey Ladies", "Sexy, make money money", "Tired yet, ready to quit?", Fat Joe featuring Lil Wayne's Make It Rain? "I make it rain like", Kelly Rowland's Like This featuring Eve, Busta Rhymes' I Love My Chick - the house lights came on, "Bite me in the back, I need you", "Oh no".
Both E and Mikey sat in briefly during their set.
Walker Mill was there.
I said good bye to Stan. I later emailed him on myspace:
I said "You were crankin' - is this typical of L!ssen now? My complaint with L!ssen usually is too often playing what some call R&B instead of GoGo."
Stan's said: To answer your query, the crank has always been typical of L!ssen iHD. There are a great many folks who pass judgement on the band without ever hearing the band live. The haters out there seem to be much more active than the advocates, hence the bullsh*t regarding L!ssen iHD's crank. With the Peany/Kwick one-two punch combination alone, the crank is inevitable. As to your complaint, what you and a great many folks don't realize, is that L!ssen iHD, in a great many instances is hired specifically for our R&B. A good many promoters, to mask their intention of throwin' a straight go-go (violence outside the clubs, club closings, etc. got folks trippin') will hire us n' press us out to do more R&B. If we're the opening act, then it'll be mostly R&B (by the promoter's request) with some go-go tucked underneath (to satiate our go-go fans). We're givin' the promoter what he wants, you don't know that though, so you think that we're sellin' out. If we come later in the show, then it's just a li'l R&B up front, with the crank close to follow. Now, when it's just us (typically two sets), then the first set is mostly R&B (for the folks who love our R&B vibe), steadily building to the crank by the last few tunes of that set. The second set is all crank. We have one of the better/best straight R&B presentations of any go-go band in the city; go-go is the only musical genre where one can be villified for being proficient. Anyway, I feel like I'm up on my soapbox right now, lemme' just pull up.
